john lennon

Two Tales of a City

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Anthony Dominick Benedetto - better known as Tony Bennett -- may have been born and raised in Astoria, Queens, but his timeless love song to San Francisco would convince you he'd lived there all his life. Seriously, how could he NOT have left his heart in a place as beautiful as San Francisco? Well, the working-class seaport city of Liverpool, England, may be on the opposite end of the scale when it comes to romantic settings, but four famous rockers left their hearts there, nonetheless. And, like Mr. Bennett, they drew their inspiration from the city they loved. Forty-seven years ago this month, the Beatles released their 24th U.S. single, a double A-side record featuring two songs inspired John Lennon and Paul McCartney's childhood memories of Liverpool: "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane."

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David Peel: The Dope-Smokin’ Pope of the New York City Hippies

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By the time the Age of Aquarius hit my little Pennsyltucky town, it was already the Age of Libra. For years we stared at our cabinet TVs with envy at the scenes of flower-children burning draft cards in Chicago, marching for peace in D.C., and dancing in hallucinogenic stupor in Golden Gate park. Just when we'd nearly given up hope that we'd ever be hip, God answered our prayers and gave us something to break the monotony of our boring, bourgeois lives: a bearded, long-haired, blurry-eyed, sandaled dude whom the town elders affectionately called "The Dirty Hippie." So touched was he by this moniker that he actually painted the nom de freak on the side of his psychedelically embellished pickup truck. What a treat to see him whiz by -- "Sunshine of your Love" and fragrant smoke wafting from his windows -- as we walked home from school. "Hey look! It's the Dirty Hippie!" we'd cry out as we waved. I have no idea whether our token tokin' rebel embraced the make-love-not-war ideology of the times, but he looked like he stepped right out of central casting for "Easy Rider." And that was good enough for us. We didn't want any trouble-making pinko types, anyway. We weren't ready for our small hamlet to become infested with the city-bred rodent variety of hippie -- like those personified by David Peel.

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Lennonova Zed’ : Where ‘Power to the People’ Took Hold in Prague

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Each year on the anniversary of John Lennon’s death, his son Julian thanks his Facebook followers for their heartfelt condolences, and asks them to buck up, remember the good times, and not wallow in sadness. Right on, Jules. Even though I shed a tear each and every December 8th – the date of John’s murder in 1980 – this year I'd like to present an upbeat memorial to the man whose music changed my life. How about a little story about his influence on the city of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, where the Lennon Wall - Lennonova Zeď - stands as a symbol of freedom.

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Whatever Gets You to the Heights, S’Alright

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Imagine there's no Billboard To measure record sales. No song's the winner, No song ever fails. Imagine all releases Treasured equally…. Imagine the most defining song of John Lennon's career NOT reaching the number one spot on the Billboard charts when it was released in October 1971. Surprisingly, John's iconic peace anthem, "Imagine," actually peaked at number three, which just goes to prove that chart position does not a legendary song make. John's only single to hit the number one spot during his lifetime was "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," which topped the U.S. charts in November 1974.

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Private Johnny and the Spectacles of War

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It's ironic that a tireless war protester like John  Lennon would have ever accepted a film role as a soldier. But that's just what he did back in 1966 when he appeared as Private Gripweed in Richard Lester's movie "How I Won the War." The film was an absurd black comedy about the misadventures of an army troop led by…

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